Amid Rohit vs Gill ODI captain debate, Indian legend backs selection committee’s bold call: 'Even he agrees with this...'

Indian cricket experienced a seismic shift on Saturday with batting icon Rohit Sharma being stripped of ODI captaincy, the responsibility now falling on Test captain Shubman Gill’s shoulders. Rohit, who had succeeded Virat Kohli as India captain across formats three years ago, had retired from Twenty20 Internationals last year and also quit Test cricket in May, but remained active in the 50-over format.

Rohit remained hopeful of continuing to lead the Men in Blue in ODIs keeping the 2027 World Cup in mind. The Indian team management and selection committee, however, reportedly weren’t on the same page as the ‘Hitman’, despite the fact that he had led India to back-to-back ICC titles including the Champions Trophy this year.

Also Read | Team India selectors blasted for 'acting in great haste' with Rohit Sharma: 'Why is he in the team?'

And Gill’s successful debut as Test captain in England earlier this year, having also succeeded Rohit in that role, might have convinced head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar even further than he was the right man for the job in the one-dayers as well.

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The decision has left the Indian cricket community divided with several former players and fans slamming the BCCI for stripping Rohit of ODI leadership despite his red-hot run that arguably makes him India’s greatest white-ball captain ever. Rohit’s win-loss ration in ODIs, after all, is comparable to legendary captains such as West Indies’ Clive Lloyd and Australia’s Ricky Ponting.

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Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, however, backed the decision of the selectors and the team management to move on from Rohit as captain and look towards the future by naming 26-year-old Gill his successor.

“We don’t know whether Rohit Sharma will be ready for the 2027 World Cup. He only plays ODIs now, and if we see the international calendar, the Indian team isn’t playing too many ODIs. Bilateral tours mostly include Tests and T20Is. If he only plays 5-7 ODIs in a year, he won’t get that kind of practice, which you need for a big tournament like a World Cup. If his place in the team isn’t certain, the decision to prepare Shubman Gill was taken,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.

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“Team comes from. Personally, he has done a lot – won us the Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup before that. There’s no two ways about his captaincy. But even he (Rohit Sharma) agrees with this decision because if you need to think two years ahead, then a young captain needs to be prepared. And this is the thought process the selection committee went ahead with,” the former India captain added.

Also Read | Rohit Sharma’s ODI future questioned after Shubman Gill’s elevation: ‘If there’s a drought…’

Both Rohit and Kohli have been included for the ODI leg of India’s upcoming white-ball tour of Australia, where Gill will be making his debut as India white-ball captain with senior batter Shreyas Iyer as his deputy. The three-match one-day series gets underway in Perth on 19 October, with Adelaide and Sydney hosting the next games on 23 and 25 October respectively.